


Videophones Heal (almost) All Wounds

by asweallfallfromgrace



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Nightmares, comfort writing, out of character maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 02:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20858651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asweallfallfromgrace/pseuds/asweallfallfromgrace
Summary: Ash has only been in Unova for a couple days, and he’s already having nightmares.





	Videophones Heal (almost) All Wounds

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, another steaming hot comfort-writing fic I wrote after having insomnia for a week in a row.

Ash stared at the video screen to which the friendly Audino at the front desk of the Pokemon Center had directed him. 

He took a deep breath, disoriented. The sun was just peeking through the window, the early morning light reflecting off the screen. Pikachu snoozed next to his backpack.

He couldn’t...he didn’t want to bother him, but in that moment, he couldn’t think of anyone else who could help get him unwound from the tight spiral of emotion. Cilan and Iris were still asleep — he’d made sure of that by stealthily sneaking out — and he didn’t want to wake them after they’d all gotten into the Pokemon Center at midnight. 

He took another deep breath, and dialed the phone. It rang, and rang, and rang...nothing. He sighed, hitting redial. Same result. 

He swung his legs off the stool, his heart pounding in his chest. He really hoped nothing was wrong. 

(He knew, deep down, that nothing was, but his dreams were very persuasive). 

But then Iris was there, Axew popping out of her hair to greet him, Cilan close behind and excitedly talking about something Ash couldn’t even attempt to process, and he masked his inner chaos behind a bright smile and a cheery “good morning”. 

And soon enough they were back on the road, and Ash was silently working himself up into a mental frenzy. Pikachu clung to his shoulder, giving him concerned looks and small pats.

The next Pokemon Center they passed, maybe an hour later, he managed to make an excuse to dash in — he hadn’t battled anyone, Trainer or Pokemon, but who were either of his companions to say whether he needed to pee or not? 

Video phone, always in the same location. He made a beeline for it, tapping in the same numerical code, and watched the connection animation. 

A quizzical “Chansey?” from the other side of the line indicated that the call went through.

It was odd seeing a Chansey after being in so many Pokemon Centers with Audino assistants, but it filled him with an equal measure of warmth and mild terror. Pikachu greeted her, excited to see an old friend .

“Chansey! Great to see ya. Uh, is Brock around?” Ash asked, trying to keep his voice steady. 

“Chansey, chansey!” She stepped away, and he could hear her chattering in the background, and something about “not another student loan scam, Chansey, it’s 11 pm”.

She must have insisted, though, because the next thing Ash knew he was looking at one of his oldest friends.

“Pika-chu!” Pikachu said, jumping onto the desk.

“Hey, Ash, Pikachu!” Brock said, his face briefly lighting up, then softening into concern. “What’s going on?”

He always could read Ash like a book. “I just—“ he paused, taking a deep breath.

Brock studied him closely. “It’s still pretty early in Unova, right? Did you have a nightmare?”

“How’d you know?”

“I could recognize that expression from kilometers away.” he said, leaning towards the screen. “Do you need to talk about it?” 

That opened the floodgates. Ash didn’t really want to explain the gory details, but somehow he couldn’t hold back the description of the torture and chaos his mind had conjured. 

“...So I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, but no one picked up, and then I had to leave...” He abruptly stopped, panting a bit, like he’d just run a kilometer. 

“It’s all right.” Brock said, gentle. “Ash, it’s okay, just take a breath.” To emphasize that point, Pikachu jumped back onto his shoulder, nuzzling his face with its cheek.

For a moment Ash felt like he was eleven again and back in Johto, with the scent of pine trees and ashes of a burnt out fire back in his nostrils, awake in the middle of the night after he was overwhelmed with dreams about Ho-oh and Lugia and the vague memories of Mewtwo.

He breathed.

He was doing better. Damn it, he was doing better. He wasn’t eleven anymore. He could do this.

“I know. Sorry for bothering you — you’re probably really busy with Pokemon Doctor stuff.”

Brock made a face. “Don’t apologize. I want you to have someone to talk to. That nightmare sounded pretty bad. Besides, I wasn’t doing much — the kids are all asleep and I don’t have anything due until next week. Honestly, I was mostly just having some downtime with Chansey and Croagunk.”

“Croagunk’s with you right now too?”

Brock angled the camera to reveal his other Pokemon from Sinnoh. Croagunk looked up, made a disinterested face, and went back to his stance, gazing at his reflection at the mirror. 

Ash sweatdropped. “Hello to you too!”

“Yeah, that’s probably a joyful hug coming from Croagunk.” Brock grinned. “How about you, what new and exciting Pokemon do you have?”

“Pika!” Pikachu, who’d mostly been quiet through the conversation, perked up, and both Trainers laughed.

“I don’t think Ash would go anywhere without you, Pikachu.”

Ash fiddled with his belt, bringing out Oshawott, Pidove, and Tepig. “Guys, meet my friend Brock!” 

They all made their various excited cries, Pikachu jumping over to them to play a bit, and Ash spent several minutes detailing their stories. He left out details of particularly Professor Juniper — he really wouldn’t be able to deal with Brock’s reaction to pretty girls right now. Even so, just talking about what was happening made him feel a whole lot better, though he was starting to wonder where Cilan and Iris were by now. 

“Unova’s really reclusive — I’ve never seen any of your new Pokemon before.” Brock said, almost examining the group. “You said Oshawott and Tepig are starters there — what’s the grass-type?”

“Snivy! I actually saw a new trainer — Trip, who’s my rival now — pick Snivy when I first got to Professor Juniper!”

“Let’s hope he’s a little nicer than Paul,” Brock joked, and Ash nodded, feeling another small pang. He heard Pikachu growl from his shoulder.

“He doesn’t overtrain, I don’t think. Snivy seems way happier with him than Infernape ever did.”

“Good. Because if he does, I’m going to fly over there and you and I are going to start giving lessons on how to treat Pokemon.”

“Do you think you could?” Ash heard himself asking. 

Brock frowned. “Maybe someday. I don’t know if I could manage to negotiate it with everything right now, though.”

“Can I at least call you?”

“Anytime. Promise.”

They said their goodbyes, but right as he was about to hit the end button, a thought occurred to him. 

“How’d you know I was in Unova, anyway?”

“Your mom called me when she got back.” Brock grinned. “Said you were already getting into trouble, to expect a call at some point.” 

At that, the screen flickered and cut to black.

Warmth flooded Ash’s heart as he walked back towards the lobby. He spotted Iris and Cilan sitting, apparently waiting for him. 

While they had lots of questions about everything — his erratic behavior, mostly, and Iris called him a kid twice — Ash could only smile, feeling more than ready for the adventure ahead.


End file.
